Friday, March 6, 2015

Baltimore Activist Alert March 6 - 7, 2015

Baltimore Activist Alert March 6 - 9, 2015

"I speak as an American to the leaders of my own nation. The great initiative in this war is ours. The initiative to stop it must be ours." - Martin Luther King Jr.
Friends, this list and other email documents which I send out are done under the auspices of the Baltimore Nonviolence Center. Go to www.baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com. If you appreciate this information and would like to make a donation, send contributions to BNC, 325 East 25th Street, Baltimore, MD 21218. Max Obuszewski can be reached at 410-366-1637 or mobuszewski [at] verizon.net.

2] – To obtain information how your federal legislators voted on particular bills, go to http://thomas.loc.gov/. Congressional toll-free numbers are 888-818-6641, 888-355-3588 or 800-426-8073. The White House Comment Email is accessible at http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/.

3] – THE ORGANIZING LIST will be the primary decision-making mechanism of the National Campaign of Nonviolent Resistance [NCNR]. It will be augmented by conference calls and possibly in-person meetings as needed. It will consist of 1 or 2 representatives from each local, regional, or national organization (not coalitions) that wishes to actively work to carry out the NCNR campaign of facilitating and organizing nonviolent resistance to the war in Iraq. To join the ORGANIZING List, please send your name, group affiliation, city and email address to mobuszewski at Verizon dot net. Different local chapters of a national organization are encouraged to subscribe.

THE NOTICES LIST will include only notices of NCNR actions and related information and is open to any interested person to subscribe. It will be moderated to maintain focus & will include periodic notices about getting involved in NCNR national organizing. To join the NOTICES List, send an email message to mobuszewski at Verizon dot net.

4] – You can help safeguard human rights and fragile ecosystems through your purchase of HOCOFOLA Café Quetzal. Bags of ground coffee or whole beans can be ordered by mailing in an order form. Also note organic cocoa and sugar are for sale. For more details and to download the order form, go to http://friendsoflatinamerica.typepad.com/hocofola/2010/02/hocofola-cafe-quetzal-order-form-2010.html. The coffee comes in one-pound bags.

Fill out the form and mail it with a check made out to HOCOFOLA on or before the second week of the month. Be sure you indicate ground or beans for each type of coffee ordered. Send it to Francine Sheppard at 5639B, Harpers Farm Rd., Columbia 21044. The coffee will arrive some time the following week and you will be notified where to pick it up. Contact Francine at 410-992-7679 or FrancineMSW@aol.com.

5] – You may be interested in an art exhibit called "Chronicles of War" by artist Phyllis Plattner, which shows her artistic views of the horrors of war. It is located at American University's Katzen Arts Center, 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW, and will be there until Sun., Mar. 15. Call 202-885-1300

6] – CODEPINK is on the search for someone to fill a short-term position as coordinator of our Campaign to Normalize Relations with Cuba. The selected candidate will work closely with the CODEPINK co-founders and Program Director, as well with other members of the team and colleagues in the US and Cuba. The short-term goals include organizing a 100-person trip to Cuba from April 26-May 3, tracking the progress of Cuba coming off the US terrorist list, gaining more support in the House and Senate for lifting the travel restrictions, and strategizing about a more long-term campaign to normalize relations with Cuba, in light of the new talks between the US and Cuban governments. The long-term goals of this campaign are supporting the confirmation of a US Ambassador to Cuba, lifting all the restrictions on travel to Cuba, lifting the embargo and eventually transferring the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base back to the hands of the Cuban people. This short-term job will help research the direction for a more protracted campaign in the fall.

CODEPINK is a grassroots organization working to end U.S. wars and militarism, support peace, diplomacy and human rights initiatives, and redirect our tax dollars into healthcare, education, green jobs and other life-affirming programs. Send a cover letter and a copy of your resume to alli@codepink.org.

7] – You are invited to read the following People's World article by Cindy Farquhar on the lobbying effort that took place on February 26 for Senate Bill 566 which would repair some of the worst provisions of the Law Enforcement Officers' Bill of Rights (LEOBR): http://www.peoplesworld.org/people-lobby-for-police-accountability-bill-filed-in-maryland-state-legislature/. There are currently at least ten police accountability bills pending in the MD General Assembly. You can still become involved in the legislative fight back by going to the Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle website at www.lbsbaltimore.com and filling in the information form at the bottom. If you are willing to contact your state representative directly, Dayvon Love has asked that you email him at dayvon.love87@gmail.com to indicate your legislative district.

8] – Get over to the Capital Hilton, WDC, on Fri., Mar. 6 (all day) & Sat., Mar. 7 (all day) for the AFL-CIO Organizing Institute. This is a workshop for national organizers from across the labor movement and from allied groups who are engaged in issues that affect working families. It's a great chance to talk shop and dream big with the best organizers in the country. The National Organizers Workshop will focus on real-life organizing challenges in small forums that feature dialogue and high participation. See http://www.aflcio.org/Blog/Community-Services/Save-the-Date-and-Tell-a-Friend-National-Organizers-Workshop-Set-for-March-6-7-2015.

9] – On Fri., Mar. 6 from noon to 1 PM, join the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker in a vigil urging the powers that be to abolish war and torture, to disarm all weapons, to end indefinite detention, to close Guantanamo, to establish justice for all and help create the Beloved Community! The vigil takes place at the White House on Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Contact Art @ artlaffin@hotmail.com or at 202-360-6416.

10] – This Friday, Gino Renne is giving testimony in front of the Montgomery County Council against the plan to privatize the Dept. of Liquor Control. The Office of Legislative Oversight has released a report that endorses plans to privatize, but their report is flawed. They have decided on a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. And their plan will create huge problems for the whole county government... DLC is an enormous contributor to our budgets, generating $30-40 million in funds for the general government. So not only does this move to privatize threaten the DLC's workforce, it could have an impact on many of your jobs.

11] – There is usually a silent peace vigil on Fridays, from 5 to 6 PM, sponsored by Homewood Friends and Stony Run Meetings, outside the Homewood Friends Meetinghouse, 3107 N. Charles St. The Mar. 6 vigil is postponed until Mar. 13. On that Friday it will remind us that War Is Not the Answer and that there is the need to stop torture, and prosecute the torturers. Afterwards, there will be a potluck dinner.

12] – The Hiroshima-Nagasaki Commemoration Committee, Baltimore Quaker Peace and Justice Committee of Homewood and Stony Run Meetings and Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility are continuing the FILM & SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS DVD SERIES. The film will not be shown on Fri., Mar. 6. Instead, it will be shown on Fri., Mar. 13 at Homewood Friends Meetinghouse, 3107 N. Charles St., Baltimore 21218, around 7:15 PM, LIONS FOR LAMBS [USA, 2007] will be shown with a discussion to follow. There is no charge, and refreshments will be available. Call 410-366-1637 or email mobuszewski at Verizon.net.

The film directed by Robert Redford makes a connection between a platoon of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, a U.S. senator, Tom Cruise, a reporter, Meryl Streep, and a California college professor, Redford. It is a critical look at the U.S. government's prosecution of the wars in the Middle East, and does this by telling three different simultaneous stories. The film’s Web site asks a question one must answer before one can enter: what do you stand for? The film itself asks a bigger question: What are you willing to do for what you believe? The title of the film comes from a comment a German general offered in a letter during World War I. Impressed by the bravery of the British soldiers, if not their officers, who were often given their commission because of social ranking, not military prowess, he wrote, “Never have I seen such Lions led by such Lambs.”

13] -- On Fri., Mar. 6 from 6 to 8 PM, come to Busboys and Poets, 235 Carroll St. NW, WDC, for a lively and interactive report-back of CODEPINK’s historic 150-person delegation to Cuba! See photos, videos, anecdotes, and impressions from a potpourri of D.C. activists and the dynamic CODEPINK team. The presentation will be hosted at the colorful and vibrant new location of Busboys and Poets in Takoma Park. Owner Andy Shallal has brilliantly themed his new restaurant around the Cuban island, including murals and various artwork. Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/689138944536704/.

14] – See FED UP, a new film co-produced by Katie Couric and Laurie David (of "An Inconvenient Truth") and hosted by Real Food for Kids - Montgomery (RFKM), at 1 Discovery Place, Silver Spring on Fri., Mar. 6 from 6 to 7 PM. Many doctors, scientists and health advocates are raising alarms about the abundance of added sugar in American diets, not just in candy and desserts, but in foods where you wouldn't expect it to hide like pasta sauces, bread, salsa, yogurt and fruit smoothies. Sugar in the large quantities in which many Americans are eating it can contribute to short and long term health hazards like obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer and premature aging.

Immediately after the screening, BCC parent Aviva Goldfarb, founder of the Six O'Clock Scramble, will lead a Q&A, along with RFKM co-founders Lindsey Parsons and Karen Devitt. Attendees are invited to a wine and hors d'oeuvres reception afterwards, featuring State Delegates David Moon, Jeff Waldstreicher and Will Smith, who are currently sponsoring bills for the coalition Healthy School Food Maryland, and Montgomery County Council President George Leventhal. Visit https://realfoodforkidsmontgomery.givezooks.com/events/fed-up-screening.

15]-- At the Jerusalem Fund, 2425 Virginia Ave. NW, WDC, on Fri., Mar. 6 from 6:30 to 8 PM. See the film NIGHTFALL. Director Mohamed Soueid draws from his diaries, recounting the time he spent in the Student Squad of the Palestinian Resistance Movement, Fatah, during the Lebanese civil war. He recounts stories, both happy and sad, of old friends fallen during the war, and of others still living with their memories and solitude. RSVP at http://www.thejerusalemfund.org/ht/d/EventDetails/i/50164.

16] – The Vagina Monologues will be performed starting on Fri., Mar. 6 at 2 College Hill, McDaniel College, WMC Alumni Hall, Westminster. Call 410-848-7000. Read more at http://events.citypaper.com/events/the-vagina-monologues#tBudle9TJmYQKWoq.99. Performing the classic play by Eve Ensler, all are welcome to come and see the McDaniel College rendition of The Vagina Monologues. Funding from the show will go towards the Rape Crisis Intervention Services of Carroll County and Family and Children’s Services of Central Maryland.

17] – On Fri., Mar. 6 at 7:30 PM at Dorothy Day Catholic Worker, 503 Rock Creek Church Rd. NW, WDC 20010, hear from renowned peacemaker, author and theologian, Jim Douglass who will speak on the deepening journeys of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. into what Thomas Merton called “the Unspeakable.” Why was the U.S. government so threatened by where Malcolm and Martin were going? Why did they persist in striving toward visions they knew would cost them their lives? How are their converging stories of martyrdom touchstones for our own pilgrimages into the Unspeakable? Jim and his wife, Shelley Douglass, founded the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action in Poulsbo, Washington and Mary’s House, a Catholic Worker house in Birmingham, Alabama. In 1997 the Douglasses received the Pacem in Terris Award. He has written a number of books, including “The Nonviolent Cross: A Theology of Revolution and Peace.” Contact the Catholic Worker at 202-882-9649 or artlaffin@hotmail.com.

18] – There is an opportunity to participate in ballroom dancing, usually every Friday of the month, in the JHU ROTC Bldg. at 8 PM. Turn south on San Martin Dr. from the intersection of Univ. Parkway and 39th St. Drive on campus by taking the third left turn. The next dance will be Mar. 6. Call Dave Greene at 410-599-3725.

19] – Each Saturday, 11 AM – 1 PM, Chester County Peace Movement holds a peace vigil in West Chester in front of the Chester County Courthouse, High & Market Sts. Go to www.ccpeace.org. Email ccpeacemovement@aol.com.

20] – On Sat., Mar. 7 from noon to 1 PM, join the Center City Anti-War/Anti-Drone Silent Death Walk/Vigil. Gather at 12th & Market Sts. Wear black. Signs and white masks will be provided. RSVP to Marge Van Cleef at 203-804-3013. If you arrive more than 5 minutes after noon, either call Marge or come down 12th St. toward the Reading Terminal Market. The group will gather on the corner of either Filbert and 12th Sts. or Arch and 12th Sts.

21] – “Restoring Ecosystems to Reverse Global Warming” was a conference held at Tufts University, November 21-23, 2014. The focus of the conference was on the potential of soils to capture and sequester carbon from the atmosphere, and thereby to help reverse global warming. The program and videos are available here http://bio4climate.org/conferences/conference-2014/. Jim Laurie and Adam Sacks, two of the organizers of that conference, will be visiting the Washington, DC area in early March 2015. They will give a recap of the conference and will share news from around the world of continuing action on this topic, including plans to organize a similar conference in the DC area later this year or early next. There will be a potluck lunch presentation and discussion on Restoring Ecosystems to Reverse Global Warming on Sat., Mar. 7 from 12:15 to 3 PM at Bannockburn Community Clubhouse, 6314 Bannockburn Drive, Bethesda, MD 20817. Bring a dish to share, and plates and utensils if possible. Beverages will be provided. The event is cosponsored by Biodiversity for a Livable Climate, the Peace & Social Justice Committee of Bethesda Friends Meeting, and others. RSVP to Philip Bogdonoff at pbogdonoff@gmail.com.

22] – At St. Stephen’s Church, 1525 Newton St., WDC, on Sat., Mar. 7 at 7 PM, celebrate Hugo Chavez. It has been two years since he died. Chavez dedicated his life to the Bolivarian principles of Latin American and Caribbean independence, sovereignty, and integration and to the project of building a participatory, democratic human-centered alternative to the neoliberal regime in Venezuela. Today, thanks in large part to the tireless work of Chavez and the organized expressions of popular power, the continent-wide Bolivarian movement has united in the Community of Latin American and Caribbean Countries (CELAC), and other regional associations, that are committed to peace, a multi-polar world, and international relations based on complementary trade and mutual respect for the sovereignty of nations. Email frederickbmills@gmail.com.

23] – Go to Busboys and Poets, 235 Carroll St. NW, WDC, on Sat., Mar. 7 from 8 to 11 PM for a night of dancing, food, complimentary drinks and raffle prizes in celebration of Cuban culture! Get your $25 ticket online (includes food, mojito drink ticket, live entertainment and chance to win Cuban cigars and rum!). We're ending Cuba Week with a special performance by Cuba's own Rueda All Stars dance troupe, Latin beats spun by DJ Reyna Morales, special guests from DC Casiñeros, and sweet drinks mixed by the Cuban Embassy's bar tender. It'll be a noche cubano to remember. Go tohttp://www.eventbrite.com/e/cuban-fiesta-tickets-15955296722?aff=rss.

"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs